Sorry that I've been delenquent, but...

 

We have been on a vacation, a well deserved one! Brian, E and I packed up and drove out to the Outer Banks of North Carolina last Saturday. I cannot believe that today is our last full day here. We have logged some serious quality time here, doing whatever the day allows. No schedule, no distractions, and beautiful surroundings makes for an easy time of it. E drags us to the beach every morning after breakfast, and drags us back again after dinner. He makes a b-line for the door proclaiming (with keys in hand), "Beach, please!" We grab our bags and take off the few steps to the beach and play around till E lets us know he's ready to head back with a, "All done! Bye-Bye beach!" We pack up and head back often for lunch and then E's nap. Which then gives Brian and I a chance to sit on the balcony, soak up the sun, soft breeze, and sounds of the waves. Then we truck out for the afternoon and go on adventures. One day we drove out to Corolla, saw the lighthouse and then the Whalehead club. Then we ventured into the NC wildlife center, and then learned about the wild ponies that live on the dunes near the beach of Corolla. They told us all we needed was a 4x4 vehicle and we could go. My friends, Brian can NEVER complain about me getting four wheel drive ever again. He had the biggest grin on his face the whole time we drove on that beach! We found the ponies, stopped to show E - who was amazed. Happened upon a horseshoe crab, which Brian picked up for E to touch. I quickly seized this opportunity to run and jump into the drivers seat and take my turn four wheeling on the beach :)! We have also been to the Wright Brothers monument twice (I'm married to an engineer y'all) and E even got to control the replica plane in the visitor center thanks to a patient and slightly crazy park ranger. I was terrified that my toddler would go down in history as the kid who took down the intricately made Wright flyer. We went to go eat some delish Carolina BBQ, and happened upon a blues concert. E, Brian, and I jammed out trying to burn off those hush puppies! We have taken a few bike rides around town, which E loves. This whole trip has been phenomenal. Perfect condo, perfect town, and surrounded by two pretty perfect loves.

cuties

E thought it was so fun to jump on my back and tickle me :)

Daddy and E watching the waves and pelicans

The Lady on the beach with me ;)

E was not a fan of the crab

wild ponies

School time!

Today was our third day of school and it continues to be fun! E and all of his buddies ran around and had a blast. E actually sat down and did the craft, which is a first. He loved playing with the glue and glue brush...not to mention the pom poms you placed on the glue. Circle time was cute, worked on numbers and counting. Then at snack time E decided that he needed two more servings, asking with a sweet "PLEEEEEEESE". We had our standard outdoor playtime and we were planning on having lunch after, but a combo of the moms wanting somthing yummy and the soaked ground, forced us to go to Kenilworth to eat some pizza and play in the fountain. Great morning to brighten up this cloudy day!

storytime!

Bubbles!



Crafts



the ball pit was a blast for E, A, and N!









Throwing pennies in the fountain!





N, A, and E chowing down!





cuties <3



The People in Your Neighborhood

Today we ventured out in the monsoon that is hitting Baltimore to see Elmo and all of his buddies at the Lyric. Our neighbor, Faye, surprised us with tickets to Elmo Makes Music for E and I and her daughter S and her. We moved E's car seat and all packed up in the car to head out to the show. We found perfect princess parking, thank goodness. We walked into the Lyric and E was pumped, lots of OHHHHHHH's, AHHHHHHHH's, and ELMO! We got to our seats, which were great, not too close but just close enough. We got the kids situated and then were convinced that the next 45 minutes were going to be torture. The house lights went off and the stage lights went on, E was hooked right at the start of "Sunny Days". S was a little freaked out, but quickly came around when things calmed down a bit on stage. It was hilarious to see E's reaction as all of the Sesame Street favorites came out on stage...so cute! I had tears rolling down my cheeks from laughing so hard. As for the show, it was actually pretty good. There were times where Faye and I were laughing pretty hard. Pretty dorky, I know! My favorite is when the whole Sesame Street gang busted out into the hustle and then Bert came out doing a spin off of Saturday Night Fever. E and S were dancing and singing, loving every minute of the show. Any time Elmo was not on stage, E would put his palms up and say, "Elmo?" "Elmo all gone?" Too much cuteness! E and S had a blast! We waved bye bye to the Lyric and headed back to our street, where friends are people in your neighborhood! XOXO

E is ready for the show! note the Grover shirt ;)

mesmerized

Bert working it!

Most of the gang, missing Cookie and Grover who were also in the show!

intermission snacks

Elmo?! Where are you?

Thanks Elmo!

Boats and Science



E sitting watching the boats

 Today was a cloudy day, drizzles off and on. Thursday play date was forced indoors, but we seized the opportunity to go to the Maryland Science Center! Such an amazing place for the kiddos. E and A ran around getting all their beans out. They have a great kids room, that is super interactive and very fun. Best part - its enclosed, and there is an attendant monitoring the door and watching the strollers! You are left to run around with your kid and have a blast. We did, so much so that we are thinking about getting a membership - since it will pay for itself in 5 trips! That wouldn't be a problem at all! It's maybe five minutes from my house, hello?! I love the city, and today just affirmed it. A and Sarah had to leave early due to a last minute appointment to show their house (fingers crossed someone put in an offer). E and I ran around for at least an hour more, then walked out of the Science center only to have E want to watch the boats. We sat and enjoyed the scenery and decided we were hungry. We said bub-bye to the boats and the Science Center left to meet BB (E's godmother) for lunch. It was nice to see her and spend some time catching up, since we didn't see her last week! Enjoy the pics! xoxoxo

"This is SO COOL mom!"

Working on fine tuning my Schuster math genes!



E:"What?! Yellow? That is not following the pattern!"
A:" Whatever, E"



"Quick the submarine is under attack!?"

"Why, nice to meet you Mr. Ripkin"

steering the boat with great concentration!

Muchos Pocos Hacen Un Mucho

Many littles make a lot. Such a powerful dicho. The last two days have had many littles that have led to a lot!
Yesterday was the second day of school, E continues to love it. He was cheering to see his buddies A and N the whole way to class. He was so zonked from school he crashed on the way home without eating lunch! That afternoon we received another care package from GiGi! He was pumped, check it out:

A bubble gun, an awesome book, some STARCK silverware, and an awesome helicopter!

Then, today we had a full day planned. E had gym, then we were heading to lunch with a few friends, one of which just had a baby. That all changed when E woke up running a fever. I was pretty sad that our day had changed so dramatically, but went with it. E and I stayed in our PJ's and hung out in the family room. We read, snuggled, and just took it easy. We made some mac and cheese for lunch. He even requested seconds with a, "noodles please" (sounded more like noooodles peeeeeees). Then he took a great nap. Woke up fever free and we decided to take a stroll to the park to play and feed the ducks. We trekked down and it was perfect weather! Played for a good hour on the playground then headed to feed the ducks.

 







 E had a blast often attempting to hand feed the ducks or take a swim with them. Giving me a heart attack every time!

We finished up the bread supply and headed for home. We were close to the entrance to the park when Brian called that he was coming to join us with Ferrous. So they got to the park and we went for a nice loop. Came home, made a yummy dinner. Then we took E upstairs to get him ready for bed. Bath, PJs, then story time. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

All the littles: hugs from E, snuggles while reading, kisses, laughs, how smart this kid is, Brian showing up at the park to surprise us, school being so fun, and even getting by butt handed to me by my trainer. All of those littles have made this mama know she has a lot! XOXO

Relaxing Sunday

After all the weekend hoopla, we decided that Sunday was going to be an easy kind of day. E slept till 9am, so that was a fabulous start to our Sunday! We ate breakfast and then headed out to the patio and drank some coffee while E ran around playing. When it was approaching 11, we decided that we should all get dressed and head out to the park for a walk and some playground time for E. We all got dressed, packed E up in the backpack, and put Ferrous on his leach and headed out. We had a blast, the weather was brisk but perfect, and  it was a great afternoon. The only thing that would have been better would have been a Ravens win, since that game was TERRIBLE! Here's some pics from the park:

E and Daddy playing

Ferrous watching E and Brian

E taking Ferrous for a walk

CHEESE!

Later than afternoon, our friends Dan and Christy showed up and brought E some cars. They hung out all afternoon catching up.  We decided to head down to the Polish festival, called E's godfather to meet us. We all got there and alas, they were closing up. BOOO. So then we decided to try this little pizza place around the corner called Johhny Rad's. Pizza was good, but was not Matt's good. There was a pinball machine and a skee ball machine that entertained E quite a bit. What a great Sunday, good times and good friends! XOXO

seriously, you are allowing me to hurl this ball?!

playing skee ball with Auntie Christy!

Plywood and China

So Friday was quite the day. For those who don't know, we live in a row home that was built in 1869. The whole reason why we bought our house was because it had a fair amount of original detail that many houses were stripped of in favor of exposed brick and open floor plans. One of the original details that we loved were the amount of windows (so much natural light!), especially the front windows on the first floor parlor room. The windows are about 10 feet tall, and have a beautiful arch. The windows are the originals, glass and all. Unfortunately, the sills were showing signs of rot and needed to be replaced, especially before the winter. So Friday started out with one of the front windows being removed, and the window opening was covered with plywood.

plywood window...look at the right window and see a sleepy Ferrous.

So I had my beautiful parlor room looking very crack chic just in time for the dinner party we were hosting that night! I worked off the to-do list getting all the linens pressed, chargers out, china out, wine glasses, and then was determined to make a memorable centerpiece. E and I took a break from the prep and went to swim class. A and Sarah were there and we had a blast watching E and A splash around like fish. We all changed and headed over to Whole Foods for lunch. As I was walking in, there were beautiful sunflowers. I quickly grabbed a few bunches and headed for the food. We chowed down and said our goodbyes. We got home and E was put down for his nap and I headed downstairs to continue to check off the to-do list. I am just going to quickly say that a magic eraser is a miracle cleaning device for all mommies. I wondered around getting all of Ferrous and E's little" decorations" in no time flat with that bad boy. I was down to the end of the list and was excited to think that I might have some time to take my time getting ready since E was napping. Well, of course he only took a 1.5 hour nap, instead of the 3 to 3.5 hour nap he takes normally. Change of plans. E and I worked together getting the centerpieces done and the table set. I think we came up with something really pretty and seasonal.

centerpiece...table not fully set!

Brian took E and put him to bed and I got ready in a flash. Our guests arrived at 7:30, and we had a fabulous evening! We celebrated our friend/neighbor's birthday, the food was delish, and the wine was perfect.  We met some great people and shared the evening with some close friends. The plywood seemed to disappear behind all the laughs and stories. xoxo

bon appetit!

ps- the plywood is now gone and a nice repaired window is up and looks great!